Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad A00308

Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad December 27, 2021

UrbanClap: A Marketplace for On-Demand Services (A)

It was a hot day in April 2018. Sitting in his air-conditioned office, Abhiraj Singh Bhal—co-
founder and chief executive officer of UrbanClap 1—was deep in thought. The oppressive heat
outside did not bother him as high summer temperatures spurred consumers to service their air
conditioners. These customers were increasingly turning to UrbanClap, an on-demand service
platform. UrbanClap connected customers with various service providers such as beauticians,
plumbers, electricians and air-conditioning mechanics for a fee. UrbanClap’s services could be
broadly classified into two segments. The lead-generation service business connected a customer
with a service provider. It charged a fee for this matchmaking service, leaving the customer and
service provider to negotiate the terms of engagement. The fulfilment service business charged
the customer for the service and took end-to-end responsibility for the quality of the service
delivery. Although the lead-generation segment dominated initially, the fulfilment service
segment grew rapidly and constituted 50% of UrbanClap’s revenues.

Bhal’s thoughts stemmed from the crucial decision he was about to make. Before scaling up the
platform, UrbanClap needed to significantly improve service quality. Customers expected a
higher service quality from UrbanClap. Bhal noticed a gap between the expected service quality
and the service quality delivered by UrbanClap service providers for many services in both
business categories. Also, something could always go wrong during service delivery.
UrbanClap wanted to have better control of the service environment in terms of quality and
safety issues faced by customers. Gauging the situation, Bhal realised that it was time to review
the existing business model.

The allure of higher scale and better quality had its own share of risks since UrbanClap would be
having greater responsibilities related to service delivery. Moreover, the decision to focus on the
fulfilment business could imply a loss of revenue from the lead-generation business, which could
significantly affect UrbanClap’s growth trajectory and negatively impact its ability to invest in
technology and innovation, crucial to the development of its platform. Bhal also had to examine
the impact of his decision on the service provider’s stickiness with the platform. Although service
providers enjoyed ample benefits by associating with UrbanClap, they still wanted to circumvent
Prepared by Professor Abhishek (Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad), Professor Saral
Mukherjee (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad) and Yogita Patra (Research Associate, Institute
of Management Technology Ghaziabad).
We gratefully acknowledge the UrbanClap team for the support provided in the form of time and data
inputs to complete this case. We would especially like to thank Kirat Chhina for coordinating on behalf of
UrbanClap.
Cases of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad are prepared as a basis for classroom discussion.
They are not designed to present illustrations of either correct or incorrect handling of administrative
problems.
© 2020 by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Institute of Management Technology
Ghaziabad.
This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 2 of 23 A00308

the platform by directly contacting the customers and saving on the platform fee. Bhal thought it
was important to review his decision one last time before embarking on a journey that would
redefine the soul of UrbanClap.

STARTING URBANCLAP
UrbanClap was started by Bhal, Varun Khaitan and Raghav Chandra in October 2014. Bhal and
Khaitan were college friends at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK). After
graduating from IITK, Khaitan moved to the USA to work with Qualcomm Inc., where he worked
on designing next-generation mobile technology. Bhal obtained an MBA from the Indian Institute
of Management Ahmedabad. Both of them ended up working together at the Boston Consulting
Group (BCG). Many Indian start-ups were being founded around that time, and Bhal and Khaitan
used to talk about starting their own venture. Bhal recalled:

We spent several weekends during our stint at BCG, just discussing what kind of business
we could start…these conversations went on for two years until one day we told ourselves
either we should act on it or just face the brutal reality that we don’t have the guts. 2

In the summer of 2013, Bhal and Khaitan quit their jobs at BCG. They launched Cinemabox, an
on-demand movie-streaming device for long-haul travel in buses, trains and planes. At around
the same time, Chandra—a Computer Science graduate from the University of California,
Berkeley, who had quit his job as a software engineer at Twitter—started an auto-rickshaw ride-
sharing app business in Noida (a New Delhi suburb), which he named Buggy.in. Both
businesses—Cinemabox and Buggy—had to be closed as the founders realised that the market
opportunities and profits were limited. Khaitan spoke about the learning from this experience:

I come from a business family. My father had started and shut many businesses, so I was
not disturbed by failures. In the first business, we could not figure out everything, but it
helped us realise the type of business that we should be working on. It became clear that
we must create a business where we plan to spend the best 10–20 years of our life. It should
make a bigger impact on others’ lives too.

Bhal and Khaitan were looking for a partner with expertise in technology, and Chandra was
seeking a business co-founder. A mutual friend brought the three together. They decided to work
together once they found that their skills were complementary. They discussed various ideas and
developed a mobile-based platform to connect home service providers such as plumbers, home
cleaners, electricians and carpenters with customers. Their experience of not easily finding a
reliable home service provider in India, despite the availability of many independent service
providers, gave them the business idea.

As per the Confederation of Indian Industries report of 2014, the unorganised sector (or the
informal sector) accounted for more than 90% of the workforce in India, and this sector generated
almost 50% of the national income. 3 The co-founders saw a huge opportunity in bringing this
workforce into the mainstream using the power of technology. The idea was to generate
opportunities for the unorganised sector workers so that they could earn three to four times their
current income. The new business aimed at becoming a safety cushion for the informal sector
workers by providing continuous assignments through a mobile-based platform.

Since the launch of iPhones in June 2007, the world has seen a proliferation of smartphones,
paving the way for mobile-based business applications. These mobile-app-based businesses

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 3 of 23 A00308

offered location-based services using the smartphones’ in-built global positioning system. They
provided access to payment gateways to transfer funds between customers and sellers of
products and services. The on-demand services grew by meeting customers’ demands by
ensuring instant access to the services they needed. The mobile-app-based on-demand businesses
such as TaskRabbit (home projects, launched in 2008), Uber (car rides, launched in 2009),
Postmates (local delivery of goods, launched in 2011) and Handy (house cleaning and repairs,
launched in 2012) changed the global landscape of on-demand services and favourably impacted
customer acceptance of such services. The on-demand businesses were especially helpful in
growing local businesses, which could now reach customers beyond the traditional local network.

The co-founders incorporated UrbanClap in December 2014 by contributing INR 4 1 million each.
Initially, they worked from home but later rented a small office in Bhikaji Cama Place, 5 Delhi. The
office was in stark contrast with the co-founders’ previous swanky offices in the US, but they took
the plunge and decided to create an enduring and impactful business. Chandra spoke about his
vision for creating a new business:

I had worked with Yelp, and I perceived the Yelp marketplace as helping small businesses.
We could have been happy to start any other business, but we wanted to build a business
with a grander purpose. We wanted to do something that was based on social
entrepreneurship impacting the masses, which could be scaled up and was sustainable
eventually.

The co-founders initially chose to name their business Prohunt and spent almost INR 200,000 to
buy the domain. Their other choices were Prowaala, Ovalslate, Worthyfit, Prodiary, Protrumpet,
Joystation and Servemonk. However, after rejecting all the options and investing in selecting
names, they finally decided on UrbanClap because it provided the connotation of a concierge and
the availability of a service provider at a clap.

OPERATIONALISING THE BUSINESS MODEL

After incorporating UrbanClap, the co-founders grappled with the options of building a
horizontal or a vertical platform business. A horizontal platform would offer a range of services,
whereas a vertical platform would cater to a particular category of services. None of the service
categories of a specialised vertical platform represented a substantial addressable market. In
addition, a successful vertical platform would eventually attract horizontal players with copycat
offerings and hence would require greater investment in innovations in service design and
delivery to sustain its growth in future. However, a horizontal platform—with a set of services—
could cater to a larger addressable market and was perceived as having the potential to make a
greater impact. Also, the costs associated with platform design, development and operations
could be spread over multiple services. Therefore, the co-founders did not see much value in
expanding as a vertical platform and decided to pursue the horizontal platform strategy.

The co-founders also needed to decide on the options of creating a marketplace platform that
would be just a meeting place of customers and service providers or adding value to the services,
which would provide uniqueness to the platform. The first option would have mimicked the
existing online classified businesses, with the novelty of using a smartphone interface. The second
option would require UrbanClap to further define the target segment and the value proposition.
The co-founders decided to create a marketplace by providing service offerings that would

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 4 of 23 A00308

generate more value at both ends—the service providers and the customers—and ensure the
platform’s liquidity (adequate players on the demand and supply sides of the platform so that
transactions happen). After taking various stakeholders’ inputs, the co-founders concluded that
there could not be a “one-size-fits-all” solution to provide value at both ends. For blue-collar
services such as electricians or home cleaners, customers faced issues because of the
nonstandardisation of service quality, pricing and supplier base. In addition, photographers,
interior designers, wedding planners and yoga instructors offered white-collar services where
customers anticipated personalised experiences. The customer expectations for both categories
were different. The co-founders decided to categorise the services on the basis of the service
quality offered and the customer experience that UrbanClap wanted to create. They perceived
the market to be ripe for disruption from the better discovery of service providers and for a
change in the acceptance of on-demand services by consumers for both service categories.

UrbanClap went through several discussion rounds to categorise its on-demand services. The
first category was named lead-generation services, consisting of white-collar services offered by
interior designers, photographers, wedding planners, movers and packers, among others. In this
category, the major challenge was the discovery because these were often one-time services and
customers relied on word of mouth to identify and select service providers. UrbanClap needed
to understand the customer needs and connect them with the right professional within their
budget. It connected customers and service providers through its mobile app, and before
confirming service bookings, neither side had the option to directly contact the other party. As
these services were priced high, UrbanClap charged the service providers a platform fee of 1%–
5% to convert leads into business.

The second category was named fulfilment services, including blue-collar services offered by
electricians, plumbers, carpenters and beauticians. Fulfilment services had a low ticket value, and
the customer expected to get the job done without any hassle. These services were repetitive, and
UrbanClap decided to standardise its operations and provide a good delivery experience. A
satisfied customer was more likely to return, and hence, UrbanClap could hope to generate repeat
orders without the need for promotions or discounts. This focus on customer satisfaction required
it to take end-to-end responsibility for service delivery. It decided to charge a 20% commission
from fulfilment service providers to connect them with customers.

To establish a marketplace that created value for both sides of the platform—the service providers
and the customers—UrbanClap needed to play the role of a matchmaker. To this end, it profiled
service providers on a few attributes such as years of experience, service specialisation and
location preferences. In addition, customers had to answer four to five questions, which helped
UrbanClap understand specific job requirements. On the basis of the matching of service provider
attributes and customer requirements, UrbanClap connected service providers with customers.

Until April 2015, UrbanClap was manually matching vendors with customer requirements. As
the business started scaling up, the co-founders invested in developing an automated
matchmaking algorithm like that used by ride-hailing services to match riders and drivers. The
algorithm would enable UrbanClap to send leads of only the relevant service providers to
customers on the basis of the mutual preferences and constraints of both. While acknowledging
the role of automation in matchmaking, the co-founders admitted that they outpaced the

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 5 of 23 A00308

competition because of the success of UrbanClap’s manual matchmaking during the initial days.
Chandra recalled:

The decision to automate the matchmaking process was taken within six months of
inception, which drastically reduced the burden of operations. But we had not negated the
need for human intervention for specific issues, which rebuilt the trust of the customer in
UrbanClap as a platform.

ONBOARDING SERVICE PROVIDERS

For customers to be better matched and UrbanClap to advertise its services, the platform needed
to be populated with enough service providers, which was critical for establishing UrbanClap as
a marketplace. Customers expected better services from UrbanClap than from independent
vendors. UrbanClap believed that having enough high-quality service providers would be crucial
to building the brand perception and eventually lead to customer loyalty.

Getting service providers who understood the importance of high-quality delivery was a difficult
task. While onboarding enough service providers was necessary, the co-founders agreed to focus
on the quality of service experience. Their market understanding made them believe that among
the hundreds of thousands of service providers only 20–30% were high-quality service
professionals. UrbanClap found it challenging to find service providers who could provide a
quality experience and help differentiate its brand from local service providers. Khaitan recalled:

The first set of professionals was onboarded through a brute force approach on the field.
We approached salons for beauticians, and labour markets and hardware stores for
plumbers and carpenters. It was difficult to convince them to quit their jobs and join our
platform purely based on our word and little proof to show. The ambitious ones and risk-
takers formed our early joiners, and once they saw the jump in their earnings, network
effects started working.

UrbanClap developed a stringent 14-day selection process to onboard service providers for both
categories before adding their profiles on its platform. It asked the service providers to submit
their certifications. It would interview each shortlisted professional to assess their job-specific
skills and fit with the company’s expectations. The company also asked for references from
previous clients for services involving stringent expectations for quality delivery. It hired a retired
superintendent of police to conduct background checks and police verifications for all its service
providers. Therefore, of the 100 service providers interviewed, only 15 could be registered on the
platform.

To ensure service quality, UrbanClap decided to impart soft skills training and skill enhancement
for fulfilment services. The training helped the service providers raise the quality standards of
the delivery. UrbanClap provided uniforms to its blue-collar service providers, who needed to
wear them while visiting customers. This raised the service provider’s self-esteem. In certain
categories such as home beauty services, service providers were supposed to carry the complete
set of kits to deliver the service, regulating the quality to a large extent. UrbanClap replenished
the items in the kit, allowing it to check whether indeed the service provider was scrimping on
the consumable items. The service provider acceptance rate of 15% (even lower in some services
such as home beauty services)—along with the training provided to them—helped UrbanClap
deliver the promised quality of experience.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 6 of 23 A00308

For lead-generation services, UrbanClap onboarded white-collar professionals because of the

changes in the employment patterns over the last few years, especially among the millennials.
While the Indian gross domestic product grew by an average of 7%, job growth was not so high.
A shortage of jobs forced the traditional employment routes to fade, and freelance jobs became
popular. Many white-collar workers such as wedding planners, interior designers and
photographers were comfortable taking up contract-based assignments, making their availability
easy for on-demand service platforms such as UrbanClap. (See Exhibit 1 for a share of active lead-
generation and fulfilment service providers over the years.)

As service providers were part of the unorganised sector, they traditionally did not have access
to benefits such as insurance. Many of them did not have adequate capital to purchase kits for
service delivery. UrbanClap assisted in loans, which the service providers repaid through their
earnings from UrbanClap. It did not link the loans for kits to service providers’ performance and
saw it as a way of increasing the number of service providers. It began by offering accident
insurance to its top-performing service providers and later extended it to all of its service
providers.

Most service providers were either full-time employees with small establishments and earning
meagre salaries or working independently. UrbanClap provided them with the opportunity to
earn higher incomes. The benefits of delivering quality to receive positive feedback, which would
ensure repeat business and get new customers, were explained to them. Service providers also
valued their association with UrbanClap as it freed them from the hassle of negotiating the rates
for their services. They also had the flexibility to accept an assignment as and when they wanted
to work, helping them maintain their work–life balance. The ability to choose the number of hours
they wished to work positively impacted their mental well-being.

Despite earning more, the service providers were tempted to avoid paying the platform
commission, which posed a threat to the marketplace. The risk of service providers
disintermediating the platform and directly contacting the customers was quite high. UrbanClap
tried to understand the dynamics for circumvention by service providers and realised that it was
not a significant problem for the categories requiring one-off transactions such as interior
designers, wedding planners, and movers and packers. For high-repeat services, the UrbanClap
staff conducted blind audits by posing as customers. Service providers resorting to circumvention
were removed from the platform. UrbanClap also asked its service providers to take a selfie at
the customer location to indicate the start of the job using the UrbanClap app. For these services,
UrbanClap decided to develop a five-level integration with service professionals to control the
entire experience and deter disintermediation. (See Exhibit 2 for details of the five integration
levels between UrbanClap and service providers.) UrbanClap wanted all the service providers to
move to the five integration levels, which would give it a sustainable competitive advantage over
competitors.

CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Since the turn of the last century, different forces have impacted Indian consumers, influencing
how they owned and consumed products and services. A paradigm shift occurred from products
and services marketed by hierarchical firms to e-commerce marketplaces, from

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 7 of 23 A00308

hyperconsumption to collaborative consumption. The changes in orientation in owning and

consuming products and services were supported by changes in information consumption, which
was fuelled by the increased use of mobile phones. The use of mobile phones, tablets and social
media rapidly increased in India from 2003. At around that time, all mobile service operators had
made incoming calls free. The next surge in mobile phone use happened five years later when
smartphones made their entry along with the start of 3G services. Reliance Infocomm deployed
the first 3G mobile network in India in 2008. 6 While Apple heralded smartphones’ entry into
Indian markets in 2008 by introducing the iPhone in India, Android-based smartphones—which
were priced lower than iPhones— increased the use of smartphones. Smartphone usage received
extra impetus when Airtel introduced the 4G network in India in 2012. 7 Reliance Jio further
revolutionised the mobile phone market by introducing 4G services at much lower prices, which
motivated users to adopt smartphones and increased the consumption of data-based services.

By building its reputation as a brand that was serious about the delivery of service experience,
UrbanClap reached out to customers who were availing of various online services through
smartphones. The customer experience journey for UrbanClap meant delighting the customers
in ways they valued the most. Managing the customer journey started from the customers’
perception of ease of accessing the services. UrbanClap aimed at reducing customer efforts in
seeking a trustworthy local service provider. It offered the convenience of booking services at the
customer’s choice of time and location. The customer selected the service category and then
answered a few questions, which helped the algorithm identify the service provider available at
the customer’s location.

For lead-generation services, customers wanted choices, and UrbanClap provided a list of service
providers, who were prioritised on the basis of the service providers’ attributes and customer
requirements. For fulfilment services, initially, UrbanClap provided customers with a list of
service providers to choose from and confirm the booking. As the service provider and customer
base increased, by mid-2016, UrbanClap decided not to offer the choice of service provider
selection to the first-time customer. In the next booking, the customer was given the option of
choosing either the same service provider or getting an unknown service provider assigned by
UrbanClap. With the availability of multiple service providers, UrbanClap provided services as
per its customers’ convenience. In both fulfilment and lead-generation cases, the service
provider’s reputation was essential for assigning the job. The rating system not only generated a
good reputation for UrbanClap as a reliable organisation but also created a quality differentiator
for service providers since high ratings got them job assignments continuously. (See Exhibit 3 for
a share of service requests for lead-generation and fulfilment services over the years.)

UrbanClap also wanted to build trust among the customers, paving the way for a sustainable
business. It offered an “Insurance Protection Programme” to its customers against damages
caused, if any, during service delivery. The insurance amount was approximately INR 10,000 for
services such as salon and spa, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, home and car cleaning services,
pest control and dry cleaning. The insurance plan was similar to the “Host Protection Insurance”,
offered by Airbnb against potential damages by guests in order to encourage homeowners to list
their properties on its platform. The customer could choose to report any untoward incident to
UrbanClap either through the “Need Help” button in the mobile app or by calling their call centre.
This feature built trust among the customers and onboarded many new customers who were
initially hesitant because of the lack of this feature. UrbanClap also offered multiple payment

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 8 of 23 A00308

options such as Paytm, internet banking and credit or debit cards through an encrypted and
secure payment gateway. Kirat Chhina, who looked after product management at UrbanClap,
stated:

To deliver a good experience, we needed to ensure that customers got transparent pricing
and booking convenience while ensuring that well-trained service professionals reached
on time and followed the service standard operating procedure. This had to be followed
up with a strong feedback and redressal mechanism. To further improve the experience,
we experimented by adding moments of customer delight such as free insurance and free
additional token service for repeat customers. We also tried to minimise friction points
such as reducing calls from partners to find the customer’s location, introducing more
payment options, which included options to pay later, and introducing a one-click
redressal mechanism during the end-to-end customer journey.

FUNDING

The on-demand services’ business model required a certain capital investment before it could
break even. Given the low ticket size, the 20% commission on fulfilment services would be
inadequate to meet the platform’s operations, technology and marketing costs. UrbanClap signed
a term sheet with SAIF Partners for a seed funding commitment in December 2014. Next to come
on board was Accel Partners in January 2015. In the meantime, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal,
Snapdeal’s co-founders, indicated their interest in UrbanClap. In April 2015, UrbanClap secured
a seed fund worth USD 1.6 million (INR 100 million) from SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and
Snapdeal’s co-founders. In June 2015, it secured series A funding from SAIF Partners and Accel
Partners. The funds were used to invest in and strengthen technology, add more services and
expand to more cities beyond UrbanClap’s presence in Delhi–National Capital Region, Bengaluru
and Mumbai (see Exhibit 4 for the share of UrbanClap service requests from various cities).

To tackle the emerging competition, UrbanClap went for a series B round of fundraising worth
USD 25 million in November 2015 from Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners and SAIF
Partners. The total funding in the three initial fundraising rounds amounted to USD 36.6 million,
making it the most well-funded company in the on-demand service space. The morale at
UrbanClap was boosted when Ratan Tata—Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, India’s largest
corporate group—invested an undisclosed amount in UrbanClap in his personal capacity (see
Exhibit 5 for a photo of UrbanClap co-founders with Ratan Tata). Bhal said:

We are glad to have Ratan N. Tata on board UrbanClap as an investor. Tata’s experience
over decades in building enterprises that Indians trust will be invaluable for us as we build
a trusted service marketplace. 8

After a year spent expanding its services and consolidating its operations, UrbanClap again
became active for fundraising in 2017. It raised USD 3.1 million in venture debt from Trifecta
Capital through nonconvertible debentures in April 2017 and also allotted equity through
compulsory convertible preference shares to Trifecta for USD 310,000. In July 2017, UrbanClap
announced a series C funding worth USD 21 million, led by internet investment fund Vy Capital.
Vy Capital also invested USD 1 million in buying shares held by UrbanClap employees. All the
existing investors—SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners—also
participated in the series C funding round.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 9 of 23 A00308

COMPETITORS

UrbanClap operated in a market that saw intense competition from existing and new players. Its
services were initially seen as a substitute for traditional yellow pages, 9 which allowed customers
to search for appropriate local service providers. It competed with established online classified
advertising 10 players such as JustDial, Sulekha, AskLaila and Quikr, who used to charge service
providers for listing them in their databases. Customers would typically browse through these
databases while looking for local service providers. However, UrbanClap also competed with
various start-ups in this space that offered better value propositions by building their business
models either using smartphones or through a web interface.

On starting in 2014, UrbanClap competed with start-ups in the hyperlocal service space such as
LocalOye and Timesaverz. This space witnessed the entry of more than 400 hyperlocal start-ups
in the next one and a half years, with approximately USD 800 million funding. Some top-funded
start-ups included Housejoy, Zimmber, Taskjob, Spini and BookMeIn. Housejoy (Sarvaloka
Services-On-Call Pvt. Ltd.), backed by Amazon India, was the second-highest funded start-up
with funding by Vertex Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Ru-Net Technology. However, in
2016, more than 100 start-ups in the Indian hyperlocal service space shut down operations and
30 were acquired by others. One of the main challenges they faced was the inability to disrupt the
way on-demand services were delivered in India.

The on-demand service players in the hyperlocal space were classified as either horizontal
firms—which aggregated several services such as home cleaning, laundry, beautician services,
plumbing, electric repairs and personal/health fitness instructors—or vertical players who only
focused on a particular line of home service. For example, Housejoy—UrbanClap’s closest
competitor in terms of funding and revenue—was a horizontal marketplace player. Khaitan
emphasised the importance of being a horizontal marketplace player in the on-demand service
category:

From the start, we had decided to be a horizontal platform because we were excited by the
market gap and the opportunity to be the go-to platform for all the service needs of an
Indian household. We also realised this would improve the economics of the business as
users coming in for one service would multiply their usage over time and word of mouth
would spread faster.

UrbanClap also competed with vertical players. For example, it competed with Naturals@Home
in home beauty services. About 30 on-demand home beauty service start-ups were estimated to
come up by the end of 2016. 11 Looking at the potential of home beauty services, which were
estimated to have a 16% share of the on-demand service revenue, several other players entered
the space in 2016. Quikr launched its on-demand home beauty service AtHomeDiva in July 2016
after acquiring Salosa, a home beauty service provider.

Major Indian and international players, who saw strong business potential in on-demand
services, also entered the on-demand service category. KPMG estimated the online service market
to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22% and be worth USD 1.2 billion by FY 2019–20. 12
Google launched its on-demand service app Areo in April 2017 for Mumbai and Bengaluru in
partnership with home delivery and home service start-ups. 13 Quikr followed by starting on-
demand services named “QuikrServices” by acquiring Zimmber in May 2017. 14 However,

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 10 of 23 A00308

Facebook’s on-demand services in India did not gain traction. Bhal felt that Facebook had tried
to adopt its US on-demand business model without modifying it for the Indian market.

MARKETING

UrbanClap faced two big barriers in establishing itself in the on-demand marketplace. First, the
company had to ensure that customers overcame the mental barrier associated with
conceptualising the idea of service providers delivering certain services at home. Services such as
a spa at home were unheard of at the time UrbanClap was started, and the customer was unsure
what such services entailed. Second, customers were insecure about allowing strangers into their
homes and spending two to three hours there, sometimes when no one else was around. Pratik
Mukherjee, head of marketing at UrbanClap, recalled comments from a customer:

While Ola 15 and Uber services stop at my “gate”, Swiggy and Zomato 16 delivery people
stop at my “door”. You are the only service provider that is coming inside my “house”.
And you are not here for just one or two minutes but spend a considerable amount of time
inside my house. How do I trust you?

To overcome these inhibitions in using its services during the initial days, UrbanClap provided
detailed write-ups about the services available on the platform through its mobile app. The
company relied on “word-of-mouth” publicity and digital marketing. It used search engines such
as Google to generate leads through organic search and paid promotions. To enable word-of-
mouth publicity, UrbanClap aimed at delivering a high-quality service experience so that its
customers could talk about the services and refer UrbanClap to their friends, family members
and neighbours, thus bringing in new customers.

Initially, when its services were available in only a few cities, UrbanClap employed social media
to showcase the range of services available on its mobile platform and the ease of booking them
at the customer’s convenience. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram were used
to reach out to the target audience with short videos about UrbanClap services. UrbanClap
addressed customers’ concerns through testimonials provided by satisfied customers. It tried to
distinguish itself from competitors by producing videos for social media pages that showed real-
life situations involving customers and service providers of UrbanClap. One of the videos shared
on Facebook showed a young mother sharing her experience of using the UrbanClap spa service
delivered at her home by a female service provider. Another video showed a working mother
availing beauty services at the weekend, with her young child playing in the background.
UrbanClap also incorporated these videos in its mobile app, helping customers understand how
service delivery would happen.

As the awareness of UrbanClap’s range of services increased among its target audience, it started
using contextual themes that mattered to society, relating them to its range of services. These
videos were also initially showcased on its social media pages, including Facebook and
Instagram. With the scrapping of Article 377 (which decriminalised homosexuality in the
country) by the Supreme Court of India, UrbanClap released a digital film titled “Capture Your
Love” in June 2016. The ad showcased the strained relationship of a father with his daughter who
was in a relationship with another woman. It was followed by another film on gender equality in
November 2016, which featured four women in roles typically held by men. One of the women—
a fitness trainer—was registered with UrbanClap and was portrayed in the UrbanClap uniform,

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 11 of 23 A00308

thus connecting the ad with the brand. After establishing its presence in eight cities by the end of
2016, it started with television advertisements in association with Publicis Ambience.

UrbanClap also undertook below-the-line marketing activities by being part of socially relevant
events. On launching its services in Chennai, it provided free pest control services in flood-
affected areas across Chennai in November 2015. This initiative was followed up with a self-
defence training programme for women to mark the occasion of “International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women” on November 26, 2016. Similarly, it offered free
plumbing services to repair tap leakages in households of Mumbai, Pune and Chennai as part of
its “Save Water” campaign. In 2018, it continued to focus on digital marketing and use social
themes in its advertisements.

UrbanClap spent INR 320 million on marketing and advertising in FY 2016–17. This amount was
38% of its overall expenses and considerably higher than its closest competitor Housejoy’s, which
spent INR 220 million (22% of its overall expenses). 17 In FY 2017–18, UrbanClap spent INR 350
million on marketing and advertising, which was 36% of its overall expenses.

IMPACT ON SERVICE PROVIDERS

Most service providers aligned with UrbanClap’s fulfilment services could earn five to six times
their previous earnings. By 2017, certain service providers in a few segments were making INR
60,000–80,000 a month. The five levels of integration and various training sessions further
enhanced their skills for catering to quality-conscious customers. UrbanClap guided these service
providers to open bank accounts and equipped them with the technical know-how on invoicing
and online payments. The matching algorithm not only matched the customer requirement to the
service providers but also took cognisance of the job category that the service provider was most
skilled at, thus assigning them to the job they enjoyed the most. Some service providers even
hired assistants to help them cater to heavy customer demand, which boosted their self-
confidence manifold. Chandra stated the impact UrbanClap had on the lives of its service
providers:

We often find ourselves in social constructs where we have a “serving” and a “served”
because of economic standing and introduction context. A lot of this is changing—our
professionals find their individual identity and respect on being associated with
UrbanClap. They consider UrbanClap as their business partner and ecosystem creator.
They feel proud to represent themselves as independent entrepreneurs, wear the uniform
as a mark of professionalism and feel empowered and respected, knowing they are a part
of a community that will back them up for the right cause. This helps bridge the social
equation wherein a partner is not arm-twisted to wait for a customer, or do an extra service,
or give a discount. A partner earns fairly and in a respectable way.

See Exhibit 6 for details about how UrbanClap changed the lives of four of its service providers.

CREATING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

From 2015 to 2018, UrbanClap emerged as a platform that provided access to basic and premium
services. Initially, UrbanClap selected services in such a way that a few services could fulfil the
bulk of a customer’s requirements. The list of services grew to 57 by March 2018. The platform

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 12 of 23 A00308

now had service providers such as beauticians, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, yoga trainers,
fitness trainers, bartenders, dieticians, home tutors, interior designers, architects, wedding
photographers, property lawyers and chartered accountants (see Exhibits 7A and 7B for the
timeline of services introduced on the UrbanClap platform). The all-in-one platform helped
customers hire any service provider according to their requirements.

The company evolved its matchmaking algorithm, which enhanced its customer conversion rates
to almost 50%. The algorithm matched customers’ requirements with its database of service
providers on the basis of certain criteria (for example, a customer seeking a professional makeup
artist needed to specify the budget, event, location and date). As the algorithm understood and
learnt service providers’ patterns (for example, a particular beautician was good at certain jobs,
or a specific fitness trainer preferred certain locations, or the service provider preferred certain
working hours), it became better at matching customer requests and service provider expertise.
The accumulation of matchmaking data gave a competitive advantage to UrbanClap. However,
it did not overload the customer with unnecessary information. With time, UrbanClap collected
data about a customer’s browsing history, transactions and bookings, and only sent relevant
updates about festival discounts and sales to the customer. To challenge UrbanClap, any other
competitor would require a similar database for algorithm-driven matchmaking.

A superior matchmaking algorithm meant fewer services cancellations 18 by the customers. For
fulfilment and lead-generation services, the percentage of services cancelled by customers
decreased from 36% and 30% in 2016 to about 25% and 18%, respectively, in 2018. In 2016, for
lead-generation services, UrbanClap had a policy of refunding the commission to partners if the
customer cancelled the request. This policy often resulted in partners calling and harassing
customers to cancel the job if the deal between them and the customer did not materialise. To
change this behaviour, UrbanClap stopped refunding the lead commission (instead factored in
the cancellations by lowering the lead price). This change reduced the incidents of harassment,
but it also meant that cancellations could go unreported as customers might not record them on
UrbanClap’s app.
However, the relatively higher cancellation percentage for fulfilment services was due to
UrbanClap’s rigorous follow ups of each service request to ensure that a service was either
delivered or cancelled. Fulfilment service cancellations were reduced because of better
matchmaking and the introduction of an option to customers to reschedule a service rather than
cancel it. A last-minute cancellation by a customer impacted the service partner and UrbanClap
revenues if UrbanClap could not fill the vacant slot. The quality of the matchmaking algorithm
was crucial to ensure that partner utilisation was not negatively affected even when customers
cancelled during peak demand periods such as weekends. Cancellation rates differed across
service categories and were typically lower for immediate requirements than for those scheduled
for a later date.

UrbanClap also analysed data collected in various interactions to deliver better services.
Customer segments’ behaviour regarding the information consumed (whether customers relied
on other customers’ feedback or information provided through service delivery videos) helped
UrbanClap create segment-specific customised communications. On the basis of patterns about
the bundle of services consumed, UrbanClap also offered a package of services to customers,
allowing them to save money. For certain services, UrbanClap shared information about previous

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 13 of 23 A00308

service usage (in terms of customers’ preferences) with service providers when they delivered
the service.

CHALLENGES

Despite marching ahead of competitors and securing funding support for its marketplace,
UrbanClap faced several challenges. One of the challenges was managing the pipeline of service
providers who could fill in to cater to the increased demand from UrbanClap customers. With
stringent quality standards for onboarding the service providers, UrbanClap often found itself
short of service providers as the demand grew. For example, in April 2016, UrbanClap saw
a massive surge in demand for air conditioner installation and repair. Similarly, during Diwali 19
in 2016, UrbanClap witnessed a rise in demand for home cleaning. UrbanClap could not fulfil
both these demands.

UrbanClap planned to increase the number of service providers, which presented new
challenges. It needed to maintain high service delivery standards while scaling up the business.
UrbanClap achieved a high level of integration between itself and its service providers only for
some services (e.g., beauty services), leading to variable service delivery quality. It tracked
customers falling under the categories such as “First Time to Product”, “First Time to Category”
and “Repeat to Category”. UrbanClap found that while customers were willing to try beauty
services, they were not open about all of its services. Thus, it was challenging for UrbanClap to
cross-sell its services.

UrbanClap also faced the risk of one of its service providers turning rogue while delivering
services. The incidence of a female customer’s rape by an Uber (app-based taxi service provider)
driver in New Delhi in December 2014 was a constant reminder. After the incident, app-based
taxis were banned in New Delhi. The ban was overturned only after these service providers
promised strict background checks for their drivers. 20 Although UrbanClap conducted extensive
background checks, it was always worried about any unforeseen happening that could bring
down the trust in UrbanClap as a service provider. The regulatory framework was also unclear
about the extent to which a marketplace operator was responsible for any such unfortunate event.

THE WAY AHEAD

As Bhal grappled with the challenges of growing UrbanClap, the big question remained
unanswered. There was overwhelming consensus within the UrbanClap team that lead-
generation services were not creating delightful experiences for customers. UrbanClap hardly
intervened in ensuring service quality for the lead-generation services business, thus leading to
almost no control over customer satisfaction. UrbanClap measured the net promoter score (NPS)
for customers and service providers for service transactions. NPS for fulfilment services was
better than that for lead-generation services for customers and service providers alike (see
Exhibits 8A and 8B for NPS levels for lead-generation and fulfilment services for customers,
respectively).

For lead-generation service providers, UrbanClap was one of the many sales channels. Data
collected from lead-generation service providers showed that UrbanClap bookings constituted
20–30% of their overall revenues. However, fulfilment service providers performed their duty

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 14 of 23 A00308

sincerely as they were only using the UrbanClap channel. UrbanClap earned a better commission
in the fulfilment service business, but this business placed a huge onus on the company to ensure
the service delivery quality. In contrast, the lead-generation services business did not take up
significant managerial capacity for its delivery and provided a relatively easy contribution to
revenue.

Khaitan and Chandra joined Bhal in a meeting to discuss this issue. They wondered if they should
focus on the lead-generation service or fulfilment service business to grow UrbanClap. Should
they continue to focus on both business categories? If they decide to focus on a particular service
category, what should be the set of services in that category? Would the chosen set of services
lead to cross-selling of services? Which service category would increase the likelihood of service
providers sticking to the platform and not circumventing it to reach customers? How would the
maturity of the chosen services and service providers enable the growth and scaling up of the
UrbanClap business?

As they discussed these issues, Khaitan and Chandra suggested a wider discussion involving
UrbanClap’s senior management team. The three co-founders decided to hold an off-site meeting
with UrbanClap’s senior management team to discuss the way forward. They needed to move
quickly as the decision had to be approved in the board meeting scheduled for the last week of
April.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 15 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 1
Share of Active* Lead-Generation and Fulfilment Service Providers Over the Years

Description FY 2014–15 FY 2015–16 FY 2016–17 FY 2017–18

Fulfilment services (%) 0 11 9 13
Lead-generation services (%) 100 89 91 87
Total number of service providers 130 17,500 44,500 83,000

Source: Provided by UrbanClap 21

* Active means at least one delivered request for fulfilment services and at least one response on net
requests for lead-generation services. The numbers are estimates because the service provider base and
composition changed within the year.

Exhibit 2
Five Levels of Integration Between UrbanClap and Service Providers

1. Customer access: A two to three times increase in earnings through improved utilisation by unlocking
a large number of customers with an at-scale demand aggregation platform.

2. Technology-led standardisation: Providing the right technology tools that help standardise the service
delivery, from pricing to standard operating procedures, payments to rating, etc.

3. Access to banking, financing and insurance: Opening bank accounts, providing loans to buy toolkits,
fulfilling ongoing credit needs and providing insurance with the help of third-party nonbanking financial
companies, banks and loan providers.

4. Training and certification: Help service professionals improve on both core sectoral and soft skills with
upskilling programmes and facilitation of certifications.

5. Product procurement: Bulk procurement of consumables used during the service delivery, helping
partners get quality products in a cost-efficient manner.

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 16 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 3
Share of Service Requests for Lead-Generation and Fulfilment Services

Description FY 2014–15 FY 2015–16 FY 2016–17 FY 2017–18

Fulfilment services (%) 0 21 40 50
Lead-generation services (%) 100 79 60 50
Total number of service requests 1,200 450,000 1,015,000 2,375,000

Source: Estimated by the case writers on the basis of data provided by UrbanClap. The fulfilment service
numbers are based on delivered service requests, and the lead-generation service numbers are based on
net requests (i.e., noncancelled requests).

Exhibit 4
Share of UrbanClap Service Requests from Various Cities

City FY 2015–16 FY 2016–17 FY 2017–18

Fulfilment services (%)
Ahmedabad 0 2 4
Bengaluru 31 21 17
Chennai 13 9 8
Delhi 38 36 32
Hyderabad 3 9 10
Kolkata 0 2 5
Mumbai 14 15 16
Pune 1 6 8
Lead-generation services (%)
Ahmedabad 0 1 2
Bengaluru 21 20 17
Chennai 3 5 5
Delhi 50 39 36
Hyderabad 3 7 8
Kolkata 0 2 5
Mumbai 20 19 19
Pune 3 6 7
Source: Provided by UrbanClap

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 17 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 5
Photo of UrbanClap Co-founders with Ratan Tata

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 18 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 6
UrbanClap’s Impact on Four Service Providers

Mahadev Gherade: Electrician

Gherade belonged to a remote village in the Sangli district, Maharashtra, where his family was involved in
farming. Water scarcity had made farming and sustenance challenging over the years. He had moved to
Mumbai in 2001. He remembered that surviving with a meagre daily income of INR 35 was difficult in those
days. He had to return to the village because of the lack of work. After equipping himself with an electrician’s
technical skills, Gherade returned to Mumbai and joined Reliance in 2003 as a technician at a salary of INR
7,500. Being a hardworking and ambitious person, Gherade got promoted at Reliance but still could not
make ends meet. In 2015, he was promoted as a supervisor with a monthly salary of INR 22,000. He was
told that the compensation would have been 15% more if he had been a graduate. He met Bahl at a tea
stall where Bahl was explaining the benefits of joining UrbanClap as a vendor to another fellow electrician.
After overhearing the conversation, Gherade expressed his desire to be associated with UrbanClap. He
took the difficult call of leaving Reliance and joining a start-up whose future was unpredictable. He had
complete faith in his talent and did not regret leaving a full-time job. At the time of the interview with the
case writers, he was only associated with UrbanClap and catered to a minimum of five leads per day. He
had earned a reputation as a reliable service provider with both UrbanClap and customers. He said, “With
high ratings on the platform from the customers, there is no shortage of work. Every day, there is a new
challenge awaiting me at work, which makes me more talented. I aspire to complete my graduation, but my
hands are full right now.”

Mariya Tejabwala: Spa services (female)

Tejabwala, a 24-year-old girl from Ahmedabad, wanted to do something big in life. Unable to choose a
career, she started teaching in a local school at a salary of INR 10,000. Her mother had been associated
with UrbanClap for the last two years and earned a decent amount. She urged her daughter to join the
platform too. At the time of the interview, both mother and daughter were service providers on the platform
and reportedly catered to many repeat customers, who treated them like guests in their homes. The
company’s trustworthiness and esteem were so high in their mind that Mariya’s brother joined UrbanClap
in a back-office role after graduation. Except for their father, who ran a local grocery store, UrbanClap was
their dream company to work for. Individually, Mariya and her mother earned seven times what Mariya was
making as a teacher. In the peak season or during festivals, the monthly earnings crossed more than a
lakh, which was unimaginable for them earlier. She found UrbanClap to be the safest option to work with.
Additionally, the remuneration was high enough to afford Uber/Ola rides to reach customers. Mariya paid
off her family loan and had made some investments for the future. When we asked her how long she would
like to work with UrbanClap, she responded, “Marriage will happen at a later stage. With the flexibility
available on the platform, it is going to be easier to balance personal life. My mother has done that all
throughout, so there is no question of leaving UrbanClap. Right now, I want to enjoy my new Tata Indigo
car that I purchased from my earnings. My next wish is a new house.”

Sunny: Spa services (male)

Sunny worked in the beauty industry in Japan for nine years and provided masseur services for men. After
returning from Japan, he associated himself with many salons in Gurgaon that would connect him with
customers for a commission. He recalled that he sometimes wondered whether returning to India had been
the right decision. He had little choice as his mother could not get a dependant visa. Getting work regularly
was challenging. Sunny developed his own website and tried to do some marketing but could not bear the
cost for a long time. At around that time, he got to know of UrbanClap from a colleague and decided to join
the platform. He now worked on two to three daily leads and a maximum of five leads during the weekends.
He stated that the work culture for a masseur in India did not have respect. However, with a proper uniform
and clean kits, he commanded great respect from his customers. Another striking advantage was the use
of technology. Given the kind of service he provided, it was difficult to take calls during a service. Therefore,
he lost many assignments. However, with the UrbanClap platform, he did not need to talk to a potential
customer. Customers could easily select a slot that matched the availability of both the customer and the

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 19 of 23 A00308

service provider without the need for long telephonic discussions. His earnings on the UrbanClap platform
had tripled, but he reiterated, “Money is not everything. The respect and flexibility come with working for
UrbanClap, which makes it more worthwhile sticking to the platform. This has motivated me to give the best
service to become the best masseur with great feedback and highest rating.”

Gangwar Shewar: Home cleaning

Shewar moved with his wife and two children from Patna (capital of Bihar) to Noida (a New Delhi suburb)
for work. He started working as a cleaner with Home Science Services Ltd. The company was associated
with UrbanClap and Sulekha.com, and he was paid a monthly salary of INR 10,500. The job required him
to be present at his workplace from 9 am to 5:30 pm. Being new to the city, he could not give time to his
family. He wanted to send some money back to his parents in Patna, which seemed impossible with his
salary. He learnt that UrbanClap had started hiring cleaning staff directly, and he decided to join the
platform. He was designated as a service provider in the deep cleaning category dealing with kitchens,
sofas, carpets and bathrooms. He worked solo and valued the flexibility that UrbanClap offered. He chose
a maximum of two leads per day and spent the rest of the time with his family. He recalled the days when
he had taken the plunge and needed to loan INR 15,000 in order to invest in the UrbanClap cleaning kit.
He repaid the loan in three months and earned four times his earlier salary. He was happy to share, “The
living standards have improved tremendously, and I am not worried about my children’s education.
Moreover, being able to send money to my parents is an added joy.”

Source: Prepared by the case writers on the basis of independent interactions with service providers whose details
were provided by UrbanClap

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 20 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 7A
Timeline of Lead-Generation Services Introduced on the UrbanClap Platform

Month and year Lead-generation services

May 2015 Academic tuition
May 2015 Business services
May 2015 Health at home
May 2015 Home construction and renovation
May 2015 Other developing categories
May 2015 Party makeup
May 2015 Photography services
May 2015 Wedding and event services
January 2016 Other appliances and electronics
June 2016 Home painting
December 2016 Pest control

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

Exhibit 7B
Timeline of Fulfilment Services Introduced on the UrbanClap Platform

Month and year Fulfilment services

June 2015 Electrician, plumber, carpenter
July 2015 Laundry and dry cleaning
July 2015 Pest control
July 2015 Salon at home
August 2015 AC service and repair
August 2015 Business services
August 2015 Cleaning
August 2015 Other appliances and electronics
August 2015 Other developing categories
September 2015 Party makeup
October 2015 Large appliances*
December 2015 Home painting
June 2016 Spa for women
June 2017 Health at home
January 2018 Massage for men

*These included refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and reverse osmosis
machines.

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 21 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 8A
NPS Levels of Lead-Generation Services for Customers

Requests as the Increase/decrease

percentage of total in NPS scores
gross requests for from FY 2016–17 to FY
the year Gross NPS levels 2017–18
FY FY
FY FY 2016– 2017–
Service category 2016–17 2017–18 17 18
Academic tuition 4.63 3.39 Low Low −0.80%
Business services 13.45 12.23 Average Average 2.40%
Health at home 8.14 4.72 Low Average 4.80%
Home construction and
Low Low
renovation 1.77 2.07 3.80%
Home painting 0.43 0.90 Average Low −5.80%
Party makeup 2.68 3.67 Average Average −8.20%
Photography services 1.72 1.97 Average Average −7.10%
Wedding and event
Average Average
services 0.97 0.99 5.00%
Other developing
Low Low
categories 20.96 15.51 −14.20%

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

Note: Gross NPS is calculated on gross requests, where gross requests = lead-generation net requests + cancelled
requests.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 22 of 23 A00308

Exhibit 8B
NPS Levels of Fulfilment Services for Customers

Requests as the
percentage
of total gross requests
for the year Gross NPS levels
Increase/decrease in
FY FY NPS scores from FY
FY FY 2016– 2017– 2016–17 to
Service category 2016–17 2017–18 17 18 FY 2017–18
AC service and repair 2.90 5.16 Average High 19.30%
Cleaning 3.20 3.70 Average High 5.40%
Electrician, plumber,
High High
cleaning 13.62 14.97 7.50%
Health at home 8.14 4.79 Low Average 4.90%
Large appliances 3.04 4.01 Average High 11.70%
Laundry and dry
Average Average
cleaning 1.38 1.18 6.60%
Massage for men NA 0.19 NA High NA
Other appliances and
Average High
electronics 2.77 2.95 9.20%
Party makeup 2.68 3.69 NA High −8.10%
Pest control 0.91 1.13 Average Low −2.70%
Salon at home 13.76 17.90 High High 7.10%
Spa for women 0.59 1.18 High High 16.40%
Other developing
Average Average
categories 3.09 2.09 −2.20%

Source: Provided by UrbanClap

Note: Gross NPS is calculated on gross requests, where gross requests = fulfilment delivered requests + cancelled
requests. NA = Not available.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.
 23 of 23 A00308

ENDNOTES

1 UrbanClap was rebranded as Urban Company in January 2020.

2 Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://www.livemint.com/Companies/ck6h9KKDL9Aw1SCgzvMLRM/The-
building-of-UrbanClap-one-ondemand-service-at-a-time.html
3 Retrieved March 28, 2019, from http://businesseconomics.in/informal-sector-backbone-indian-economy
4 1 USD = INR 63 (December 2014).
5
Bhikaji Cama Place is a prominent office area in South Delhi with offices of many private and government sector
organisations.
6 Retrieved March 18, 2019, from https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/revisiting-the-history-of-the-

cellphone/article23560685.ece
7 Retrieved March 18, 2019, from https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/revisiting-the-history-of-the-

cellphone/article23560685.ece
8 Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://inc42.com/flash-feed/ratan-tata-urbanclap/
9 Before the dominance of mobile phones, a telephone directory—a printed compilation of landline numbers of all
subscribers of telecom services in a given geographic area—was typically published once a year and given free to all
subscribers of that area. A telephone directory had two sections: white pages and yellow pages. While the white pages
contained a listing of all landline subscribers and were printed on white paper, the yellow pages contained a listing of
business establishments and were printed on yellow paper. The listings in the white pages were alphabetical, while the
listing in the yellow pages was based on the product and service categories. Thus, similar businesses were aggregated
in a product/service category, which helped the users in searching for businesses providing a particular
product/service. The yellow pages, apart from normal listings (with the option to print in bold and super bold font
sizes), also allowed the possibility to advertise through many other forms such as display and in-column ads.
10 Online classified advertising refers to ads grouped into categories or classes. Its origin can be traced to newspaper

classified ads wherein newspapers started online classified ads after moving their publications online. Eventually,
specialised players emerged, and they started adding new features such as the ability to search for services on the basis
of certain parameters and new service categories.
11 Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://inc42.com/datalab/on-demand-beauty-segment/
12 Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://inc42.com/datalab/what-the-financials-urbanclap-and-housejoy-fight-for-

the-top-spot-in-indian-on-demand-service-space/
13 Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://www.livemint.com/Companies/vFPqvTeKozV2I6k60aoBHL/Google-

app-for-food-delivery-home-services-launched-in-Indi.html
14 Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/quikr-acquires-on-

demand-services-player-zimmber-for-10-million/articleshow/58530750.cms
15 Ola, started in India, is a ride-sharing service similar to Uber.
16Swiggy and Zomato are app-based food delivery services, which employ delivery personnel to deliver food ordered
from restaurants by customers.
17Retrieved March 31, 2019, from https://inc42.com/datalab/what-the-financials-urbanclap-and-housejoy-fight-for-
the-top-spot-in-indian-on-demand-service-space/
18 UrbanClap considered services cancelled by either the service provider or the customer as nondelivered/cancelled

services.
19
Diwali is the Indian festival of lights celebrated in the month of October/November.
20Retrieved December 24, 2021, from https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/uber-cab-rape-case-accused-driver-
convicted-by-delhi-court/story-sfE767QBQ1aNoMsHnAw8TI.html
21 All quotes and data, unless otherwise mentioned, have been provided by founders/managers directly during their

interviews with the case writers.

This document is authorized for use only in Dr Mallika Srivastava's Service Marketing. at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024.